Hypotheses and Preliminary Result
(1) When Luwu became the first South Sulawesi polity to adopt Islam, in 1605, it was still a prosperous and powerful trading organization based in coastal Malangke.
Expectations: Late 16th to early 17th century material-cultural remains, especially imported high-fired pottery (keramik), will represent areas under habitation that are larger along the Malangke coast than elsewhere in Luwu at the time. Coastal Malangke contains one or more late pre-Islamic palace centers whose opulence is equivalent to that previously documented for Makassar's late 16th and middle 17th century palace precincts at Benteng Somba Opu.
Evidence: One key excavated site, easily the largest recorded in 1998, is Kampung Pattimang Tua, which extends across approximately five hectares. Its tradewares indicate it remained under at least partial occupation until around A.D. 1600. It confirms the hypothesis that Luwu was still a prosperous trading organization based in coastal Malangke until that time.
However, Pattimang Tua lacks any early Islamic graveyard, which instead is found a few kilometers away at Utti Batue. Here are the graves of Luwu's first sultan, Andi Patiware Sultan Mahmud, and his teacher Dato Sulaeman, in front of a late pre-Islamic cemetery where looters reportedly found cremated human remains in keramik jars, and sumptuous grave goods. Immediately to the south, the exit channel from an empang had cut through a 100-150 meter length of cultural materials, which included house posts and ironwares (Bulbeck and Prasetyo 1998). Our 1999 bore survey indicates that this old kampung at Utti Batue was at least as large as Kampung Pattimang Tua. A spectacular haul of broken-up, Ming-period keramik, discovered by a local farmer, suggests that Utti Batue had become the palace centre of Luwu by the 16th century.
Results. When Luwu became the first South Sulawesi polity to adopt Islam, in 1605, it was clearly a prosperous and powerful trading organization based in coastal Malangke.
(2) As proposed by Caldwell (1998), Luwu had originated in coastal Malangke by, or during, the 14th century. Luwu remained centred here during its 15th to early 16th century heyday.
Expectations: Malangke coastal sites will contain an abundance of exotic goods, such as keramik, which can be confidently dated to the 14th century, before peaking with high-quality 15th to 16th century wares.
Evidence: The hypothesis is confirmed by the excavated ceramic identifications from Pattimang Tua (Table 1), and one red glass bead which should date to at least the 14th century (John Miksic, pers. comm.). The 1998 surface surveys of Pattimang Tua also encountered sherds of fine T'zu-chou black and white, Vietnamese black and white, a 14th century Tehua whiteware, and a 14th-15th century Chinese blue-and-white plate, plus an assortment of 15th-16th century keramik . Identified keramik from Utti Batue also includes T'zu-chou iron-painted jar sherds and Vietnamese blue-and-white, but otherwise has a stronger accent on 16th century pieces.
Tampung Jawa (or "Javanese cemetery"), which is an enormous looted pre-Islamic cemetery, may provide the strongest evidence supporting the hypothesis. At its west end are two man-made mounds, of approximately 30 meters' diameter, adjacent to an area, 70 meters long by 30 meters wide, where the looters consistently pulled out bricks of approximately 32 centimeters length, 16 centimeters width, and 3.5-4 centimeters' thickness. The bricks surely represent introduced technology, presumably from Majapahit Java. The age of the keramik fragments left here by the looters consistently centers on the 14th and 15th centuries. The brick platform (or platforms) may well date to the 14th century, given Luwu's citation in the Desawarnana, dated to 1365.
Results: The origins of Luwu can confidently be located in coastal Malangke, and dated to the 14th century. Survey of the pre-Islamic burial grounds surrounding Pattimang Tua and Utti Batue indicates an enormous population during the 15th and 16th centuries, and suggests a cosmopolitan population which included Makasar speakers (from Bantaeng?) and possibly Bajaus, as well as Javanese and Bugis.
Table 1. Tradewares from the 1998-99 Pattimang Tua Excavations
T'zu-chou iron-painted wares, circa 14th century |
3 (2 covered with a blue glaze) |
Vietnam iron-painted, 14th-15th centuries |
1 |
Old Ming blue-and-white, 15th century |
4 |
Ming whiteware, 15th-16th centuries |
1 |
Ming celadon, 15th-16th centuries |
2 |
Ming blue-and-white, 15th-16th centuries |
2 |
Coarse Brownware tempayan, 15th-16th centuries |
3 |
Vietnam blue-and-white, 15th-16th centuries |
1 |
Sawankhalok celadon, 15th-16th centuries |
6 |
Ming celadon, 16th century |
1 |
Ming blue-and-white, 16th century |
2 |
Ming Swatow blue-and-white, 16th century |
5 |
Ming Swatow "merah", 16th century |
2 |
Swatow blue-and-white, 17th century |
4 |
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